My love of painting started at a very young age, creating drawings and artwork as a child.
There was so much joy received in showing my mum my latest creation.
Straight after finishing high school I enrolled in an Associate Diploma of Fine Arts before securing a position in the Paint Department at Walt Disney Television Animation in Surry Hills, Sydney.
The love I found there, for the precise nature of the paint process, held me in great steed for my future art endeavours.
Always loving a detailed portrait painting, I continued to paint and draw portraits over the next few years.
A painted portrait tells a story of character, their past, the memories that the sitter holds dear… something a quick phone snap cannot convey.
I am inspired by people’s stories, their history, travels and life journey and love to chat with them while I paint their portrait.
I enjoyed portraiture so much that I also spent a number of years as a practicing professional portrait photographer.
Whilst I loved to paint portraits, there was another side to my artistic endeavours that had a deep calling to me.
My love for painting in an abstracted manner, experimenting with colour and the search for soliciting a feeling of joy and lightness in a painting. I felt a deep need to create paintings that any number of people could view and be touched by.
A painting that could brighten a home, a room, a life. Not just for one person, but for many.
Often experimental in my application, I utilise my photography and digital skills to explore my concepts, creating original contemporary paintings.
I love the use of bright, vivid colours, inspired by the stunning countrysides of the Riverina to the coastal towns of the South Coast.
The beautiful native flowers that grow in the inland bush and the vibrant mix of flora that abounds in the gorgeous gardens of the Southern Highlands have always been a favorite for inspiration in my paintings.
Never far away is the distinct black outline that restrains all of the beauty within. A certain nod to the years of painting for Walt Disney.
My focus during 2022 has been exploring a series of contemporary sensory art paintings. Using a unique style of layering thousands of paint marks to create texture, my contemporary sensory paintings can be touched and experienced in a whole new way.
I have been a finalist in the 2014 & 2019 Bald Archy Prize and look forward to the return of the Bald Archies after the exhibitions 3 year hiatus… A bold entry to come I am sure!
My most memorable painting experience was to paint a portrait for the honorable late Mr Geoff Harvey for the Archibald Prize, I dont think this will be surpassed.
